


It Ain't No Use *DISCONTINUED*

by God0fMischief



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Ferengi, My First Work in This Fandom, No rating yet because I'm not finished, Ro and Riker are my OTP, The Ferengi are assholes, There might be a little Deanna hate in this I'm sorry, There might be smut okay?, There's more characters but those are the mains, WIP, We'll see when it's finished., Work In Progress, maybe i'm not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:02:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/God0fMischief/pseuds/God0fMischief
Summary: As they battle it out with the Federation's enemies alongside their colleagues, Will Riker and Ensign Ro Laren have their own personal struggles to deal with in the meantime. While they push everyone else away, they begin to wonder if they can rely on one another to figure things out.





	1. Cash In Your Face

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Star Trek: TNG fanfic, so I want to get some things out of the way before you begin..Being that this is my first try at Star Trek, some things may be a little inaccurate. Trekkies/Trekkers, please feel free to correct me and add important TNG-verse info that you feel I should know and add to the story! As the tags say: there may be smut, a little Deanna hate, and no rating or story warnings until the story is finished. If I have a change of heart towards Counselor Troi during writing - hallelujah! If I feel confident enough to try out smut again - bravo! Both you and I will just have to wait and see until the story is finished!
> 
> A few more things and then I swear I'm done! I wrote this because I felt there is such a huge, glaringly obvious, ~~heinously criminal~~ lack of Ro/Riker fic ~~that is smutty or isn't written as a Ro/Troi/Riker threesome~~ that I felt I had to give this ship and fandom a go to assuage my ~~broken heart~~   ~~trail of OTP tears~~ ego.
> 
> And the titles of the chapters, the story itself, and minor details (like spelling, grammar, and some scene tweaking) may change until I'm content with everything about this fic! Most of the chapter titles will come from songs or their lyrics ~~because it's my kink~~ and I will say so in the notes, so read 'em! For now, the "It Ain't No Use" and "Cash In Your Face" titles comes from Stevie Wonder's songs by the same name. Haven't decided if the lyrics correspond with the story or if I just like the song titles.
> 
> *deep breath* That was a lot! Hope you enjoy the story!

Riker awoke with a start and groaned. Another nightmare, this time one with him falling into a seemingly endless pit until he landed so hard on his back every ounce of air was knocked out of his lungs. He looked down at his chest and saw his pajama shirt was so soaked in sweat that a huge circle of it covered just about all of the fabric. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his drenched hair before cursing under his breath, and sat up on the edge of the bed. There was no telling how this two-week long marathon of nightmares had begun or how long they'd stay, but what he did know was that he was beyond tired of it. With a sigh, he got up from the bed, slowly stripping his pajamas off and balled them up into a small and disheveled pile as he made his way to the bathroom.

He threw the small pile of clothes on the floor and placed both hands on the edge of the bathroom counter. The mirror showed his nude form was sweaty and pale from head to toe, with a major case of bed head and deep, dark circles under his eyes to complete the look. Will cursed again as he examined his face a little more closely. His fingers gently kneaded his skin in an effort to relax his tense jaw and reassure himself that it was only a dream. 

“Computer!” He called in a hoarse voice. “Time?”

“The time is 0400 hours,” the computer responded in its monotonous voice.

Will grimaced and headed towards the sonic shower. After a few minutes his body began to relax as the warmth and acoustic inverter worked its magic. He leaned against the shower wall and let his mind go blank, with nothing but the sounds of the sonic frequencies and the quiet outside to fill in the emptiness. Suddenly he thought of Deanna. An image of her face flashed into his mind and soon after a memory accompanied it. One in which they laid together after a night of intimacy, holding one another and talking. He had enjoyed that time with her as always, but recalling it now he felt....He felt different. Detached.

The thought left as quickly as it had come, and it had the Commander wondering just what was going on in his mind. Until then it had never occurred to him that his feelings had...changed in any way towards his friend, and now he wanted to know more. But that would have to wait.

“Lieutenant La Forge to Commander Riker,” Geordi's groggy voice could be heard over the companel.

Will turned off the sonic shower and stepped out before answering, “Yeah, Geordi?”

“We need you on the Bridge, sir.”

“This early?” he asked, unable to hide the small amount of surprise he was feeling. “What's going on?”

“We've got some Ferengi asking for an audience with Command, sir.”

“Now Geordi-”

“I wouldn't bother you if I could avoid it, Will, but they're blocking subspace communications and the night crew is still trying to track that lost cargo ship.”

“Alright. I'll be there. Riker out.” Will sighed as quietly as he could and walked over to the replicator, hoping to catch a quick bite to eat. Once he was finished, he swiftly dressed in his uniform and headed out into the long corridor and over to a turbolift.  
  
All was quiet on the Enterprise at this time of night. There was rarely ever any excitement going on at -

“Computer, time, please?” Riker called.

“The time is 0553.”

\- five o'clock in the morning, but when it did Will was always one of the first to be called on the scene when night watch needed a hand. The turbolift hummed as it took him from Deck 8 to the Bridge and slowed to silence when the doors slid open.

“Commander!” Lieutenant Data quickly greeted the Commander. “I apologize for having Geordi wake you up before your shift, but the Ferengi have proved most uncooperative.”

“It's alright, Data,” Riker smiled and pat his colleague on the shoulder. “I'll see what I can do.”

He nodded and said his hellos to the other night crew members and Lieutenant La Forge before nodding at Ensign Jacarti to open a channel with the Ferengi ship. 

“Have you finally got that high-ranking officer I asked for?” a Ferengi hissed on the screen.

Will could barely keep from rolling his eyes. “You're talking to Commander William Riker. What the hell is this about?!” 

“A Commander? This will do very well. I am DaiMon Les of the Krilva. It is a pleasure to meet such a grand officer as your-”

“Enough of the small talk, DaiMon! I asked you what this is about – give me an answer. And it better be a damn good one, too! You're blocking our ship's hyperchannel, and we don't take kindly to that.”

The DaiMon's jaw visibly clenched out of anger before he answered. “I think, Riker, you had better speak to me with more respect than that. It could cost your crew member her life!”

“My crew member? Again – what are you talking about?” Riker asked incredulously.

Les motioned to someone off camera and suddenly a Starfleet officer appeared, her mouth gagged, her face visibly annoyed and, Riker noticed, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Ensign Ro.

* * *

Lieutenant Data's eyes widened in surprise while the rest of the Bridge crew fell into silence.

“Just what,” Riker said, breaking the silence, “do you think you're doing, DaiMon Les?”

He spoke the Ferengi's name like a poison – exactly how Riker felt about them. “Answer me!”

“We're here to bargain, as always, Commander.” The Ferengi replied mockingly. “Why else would we be here?”

Will crossed his arms and tried to maintain his cool. “And how are the Grand Nagus and Ferengi Alliance going to explain this one?”

“Oh, don't worry about your blasted Alliance, Commander! We're acting alone! And we'd love to return your little Ensign to you – for a price of course.”

“Name it.”

“30,000 Credits, time to get away, and no tracking us. A very simple request, is it not? Otherwise, we get to keep her and...” Here, DaiMon Les stroked Ro's hair. The Bajoran shifted away from his touch. “...take very good care of her.”

“DaiMon, I wouldn't wish that on my own worst enemy. And while we are NOT going to give you those Credits, you won't be leaving with our Ensign either.” Riker turned to Ensign Jacarti. “Jacarti, cut the channel. Get Lieutenant Geordi back up here and I want both Worf and Doctor Crusher on the Bridge now!”

“Right away, sir!” Jacarti replied.

“Commander, I believe we should alert Captain Picard.” Data said as he walked up to Will. “As Geordi says, 'things could get messy'.”

“I'll call him up. For now, I want specs on their ship and get a transporter lock on Ro as soon as possible.”

As Data sat back down at the helm console, Riker paged the Captain. “Riker to Captain Picard. Sir, I'm sorry to wake you but we've got a Ferengi ship holding one of our officers for ransom.”

After a few seconds of silence, Captain Picard sleepily responded. “I'll be right up. Picard out.”

* * *

The Bridge came to life with officers from different departments buzzing around, trying to come up with a plan to rescue Ensign Ro and bring the Ferengi outlaws to justice. Will was finishing a tactical evaluation with Data and Geordi when Picard stepped out of the turbolift.

“Report, Number One?”

“A DaiMon Les has Ensign Ro held captive and is asking for some 30,000 Credits in exchange for her rescue. They're blocking subspace communications too. Geordi and Data just went down to engineering to work on it. We've got an away team on standby if we need to set foot on their ship, and our torpedoes are armed.”

“What about the transporter? We can't just lock onto her and get her back?” Captain Picard asked, sitting down in the command chair.

“No, sir.” Riker replied, sitting beside him. “Their shields are D'Kora class, and Geordi says they appear to be modified.”

“Modified?”

“It looks like they've got some black market optimizations. We can't get through their shields without a real fight.”

“Then we just might have to give that to them,” Picard said thoughtfully.

“Captain. Commander.” Doctor Beverly Crusher nodded towards them and sat down. “I've been filled in on what happened. Is there anything I can do?”

“We're going to need you on standby in case this gets nasty or Ro comes back injured. I saw her on the viewscreen but couldn't tell if they roughed her up or not.”

“It's not likely they did,” Beverly shrugged her shoulders.

“And why's that?” Riker asked quizzically.

Picard chuckled lightly and turned to his friend. “She's a female.”

* * *

“La Forge to Bridge. I've got an update.”

“Go on, Geordi.” the Captain answered.

“Subspace is on the up-and-up. We should be one hundred percent in about ten to fifteen minutes. I had to redirect some of life support's power and low-level tech like the replicators to give the transmitters a jump, but as soon as the hyperchannel is back online that won't be an issue.”

“Understood!” The intercom beeped closed and Jean-Luc turned towards the Commander. “Will, I want to speak with her. Maybe Ro can help us in some way.”

Riker nodded and had a channel opened. The Captain stood up, adjusting the shirt of his uniform before he addressed the Ferengi captain.

“DaiMon Les, I don't believe we've met before.”

“We haven't! And I assume you are the great Captain Picard I have heard about so often?” The DaiMon gloated.

“I am! And I have a request, DaiMon.” he paused before continuing. “I want to speak to Ensign Ro.”

Les' face showed suspicion. “For what reason?”

“I want to verify that she hasn't been harmed and reassure her that everything is going to be alright!”

“Hmm...,” the DaiMon thought for a moment. “It's going to cost you 500 Credits extra.”

“You wouldn't dare!” Will jumped up from his seat, his voice booming deep with anger. Before he could continue, the Captain motioned at him gently to sit back down.

“No, no, Will. It's alright.” He turned back to the viewscreen with a stern expression upon his face. “DaiMon, you know the Federation cannot tolerate this. Allow me to speak with her. ”

"I want something in exchange!" Les barked. "Put those torpedoes away!"  
  
Jean-Luc quickly weighed the pros and cons of the request before he responded. "Alright. Worf," he turned to the Klingon, "take the torpedoes offline."  
  
"Torpedoes offline, sir," came the confirmation. 

"Good, good!" The Ferengi DaiMon smirked and yanked Ro into the camera's view. “Your friends want to see you – make sure you're not scratched up. Speak!”

Ro cut her eyes at him as her mouth gag was removed. 

“Captain,” she began with annoyance coloring her voice, “If I have to spend another minute on this vessel I think I might kill everyone. So for their sake – get me out of here!”

“Don't worry, Ensign!” Picard replied, successfully masking the amusement he felt at the Ensign's headstrong attitude, but noting something was off in her eyes. “You'll be with us soon enough.”

“Yes,” Les crowed, “You'll be home as soon as we have received our 30,000 Credits.”

“Sir,” Data turned in his chair to face the captain.

Picard made a motion to cut the channel and the viewscreen went blank. “What is it, Data?”

“I have managed to find a weak spot in their shields near the cargo bay.”

“Weak spot? Aren't their shields at maximum power?”

“They are, sir,” Data continued, “but as is common with many black market modifications, their shield generators are imperfect in one spot or more depending on how much currency was invested in the construction.”

“And why is that, Data?” Riker asked.

“The simple answer is that black market merchants sabotage their customers like this in an effort to have them come back and spend more Credits on parts, repair, or replacement.”

“Just our luck!” Beverly piped up. “I'll be in sick bay. If you manage to get a transporter lock on Ro bring her to me immediately.”

“Will do, Doctor,” Riker said before turning back to Data. “Now about this weak spot...”

* * *

“Set phasers to stun. Ready?” Will asked the team standing on the transporter pad.

The away team this go-round was comprised of Will, Worf, and Lieutenant Data. Both officers responded to the commander and prepared for transport to the Krivla's cargo bay.

“Energize!” Worf exclaimed, and seconds later they were on the other ship.

After a brief moment, the small crew collected themselves and took in their surroundings. The cargo bay was dark, but there was enough warm overhead lighting to see the medium-sized room was littered with crates and boxes of varying sizes. The walls were a dark brown color with little collections of rust in different spots, and a damaged shuttle was tucked away into a corner. Worf's stomach almost balked at the strong odor of the Ferengi on the ship, but he managed to keep his cool and ignore it as best he could.

“Where to, Mr. Data?” Riker inquired.

“According to the available maps of the Krivla,” Data answered, “their Bridge should be exactly two decks up. The only way to get there is through various corridors and a turbolift. Their access tunnels are too small for any of us to crawl through. Because of this, we may encounter a number of security guards along the way.”

“In other words..” Worf said, readying his phaser and leading the way, “Be on guard.”


	2. For What It's Worth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The away team rescues Ensign Ro while the rest of the crew wonders how they can get her to open up about the experience. Deanna Troi begins to notice a change in Commander Riker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title is taken from the Buffalo Springfield song of the same name.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy and leave feedback in the comments!

“Well that was easy.” Will announced as they arrived at the turbolift.

“Too easy,” Worf cautioned, watching the corridor for guards.

Data approached the turbolift doors carefully, and, as they opened, two Ferengi officers burst from the cab at the away team. Lieutenant Data grabbed the first and pinned him to the wall while Will stunned the second. The second officer instantly dropped to the ground with an uneventful thud. 

“DaiMon Les will have your heads for this!” the first Ferengi snarled feebly.

“Yeah, we'll see about that,” Will aimed his phaser at the creature's chest and stunned him. All three officers headed into the lift and looked at the Ferengi bodies laying motionless on the ground before the doors closed.

“Bridge,” Data called and the turbolift zoomed to their destination. 

The doors opened once more and the three men were greeted with something quite unexpected.

Ro was kicking a Ferengi officer over and over, with three others trying to grab hold and tie her down.

The away team looked at one another, a mixture of shock and amusement on their faces before they turned their attention back onto the scene and jumped in. Data phased two of the Ferengi attempting to subdue Ro, while Worf grabbed another couple and knocked their heads together, effectively knocking them out. 

The leader, DaiMon Les, and the other three officers left backed away into a corner. “I'm – I'm – I'm sure we can come to an understanding!” Les stuttered.

Ro ripped the mouth gag off and stood before him. “Like hell we can!” she shouted before she abruptly planted the bottom of her boot in his face. Riker rushed to her side and held her back by her shoulders.

“Easy, Ro! Remember we're Federation officers!” he said, trying to stifle a chuckle in vain. “I think you've done more than enough.”

Before Ro could say another word, Lieutenant Worf and Data stunned the rest of the Ferengi on the Bridge and made contact with the Enterprise.

“Lieutenant Worf to Captain Picard.”

“Captain here!”

“We've got Ensign Ro. All Ferengi on the Bridge and possibly the rest of the ship have been subdued.”

“Good to hear! Beam Ensign Ro to sickbay. Beverly's going to want to have a look at her.”

Will nodded at Worf and turned Ro to face him. She had a few cuts on her face and a large purple bruise on her right cheek. Again, he noticed something off in her eyes. He shrugged it off, feeling it was just the Bajoran's irritation bubbling under the surface. “You don't look too beat up, but that bruise...”

“It's nothing,” Ro shrugged his hands off her shoulders.

Will let it go. “Well Crusher's not going to let you off so easily. You ready to go?”

“Just as soon as you get these damned cuffs off my wrists, yeah,” she replied apathetically.

* * *

“She checks out. I can't hold her just because she won't talk. I mean I can but...I don't think this is serious enough to do that,” Beverly announced. “Ro is not a very talkative person to begin with, and I think forcing her to tell us about her experience will only make her...I don't know..Shut off.”

“Well can you at least suggest she visit Counselor Troi?” Picard wondered.

“I can _suggest_ anything. I have no control over whether or not she will roll with those suggestions. Besides, she doesn't like Deanna.”

“Oh?” Will sat up a little straighter. “Why's that?”

Beverly bit her lip. “Hmm, maybe I should have worded that differently. What I mean to say is she wouldn't ever see Deanna in her office for therapeutic reasons.”

“She views her as the ship shrink. I can't say I don't get it, but regardless we're going to need a report from her. We don't even know how she ended up on the Ferengi ship in the first place. Isn't that Starfleet's business?”

“Honestly? No, it's not.” the doctor shook her head and tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. “Even though she's a Starfleet officer, this happened during her shore leave. Everything that happened before she physically boarded the Krivla can be considered private by the law.”

Jean-Luc sighed. “Well...I'll try talking to her again. Surely she can give us a bare bones report?”

“I wouldn't count on it, sir,” the commander demurred. “You know how stubborn our beloved Ensign is. She'll fight even _you_ tooth and nail on this one.”  
  
“Let's hope you're wrong!” Picard replied before excusing himself.

* * *

Will wandered around the hallways of Deck 10, his attention completely focused on the PADD he held in his left hand. 

“Will,” Counselor Deanna Troi called out to him, but he didn't seem hear her. She quickened her pace to catch up to him and lightly grabbed at his elbow. “Will!”

He turned towards her, clearly a little startled. “Deanna! What's up?”

“I called you but you didn't hear me. Where have you been?”

“What do you mean?”

“We haven't talked in...Well in days! I was wondering if you wanted to play catch-up in Ten Forward?”

“I'm sorry! But maybe a little later. We finally managed to contact Doctor Jessup and are preparing to transfer that Sinfeld culture aboard.”

“Oh I see...” she murmured. “Well then maybe some other time?”

Will grinned at her. “Definitely!” And he was off, back down the corridor, back to being inaccessible.

Deanna turned back down the way she had come, her thoughts preoccupied. Quite honestly, she was caught up in thinking about Will. Sure it had only been what – three days since they had last talked, and the Sinfeld transport was a big deal, but she sensed something had changed in her lover. It had been almost two weeks since the Enterprise had rescued Ensign Ro, and exactly the same amount of time since Deanna felt her relationship with the commander had shifted.

When she talked to him it was like he was somewhere else or not completely letting his guard down around her. Like a wall had gone up between them, and she wanted to know just why it was there. Her mind began wandering to Will's relationship with his father and the thought occurred to her that maybe they'd been in contact. He always put barriers up when he talked to Kyle Riker.

“No...” she mumbled under her breath, “that's not it.”

Just as Deanna was about to round a corner both she and Ensign Ro collided, causing the taller woman to drop her PADD.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Ro! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!” Deanna quickly apologized.

“It's alright,” Ro replied, grabbing the tablet and standing tall. “Neither was I.” 

“You know, I actually wanted to see you. Do you have a minute?”

Ro's jaw clenched, but she replied anyway. “Sure...What's it about?”

The two women began walking in the direction Ro had originally set out on. “Nothing really,” Deanna lied. “I was just wondering if you were ever going to finish that report about the incident on Krivla.”

The Ensign stopped short and looked down at Deanna, clearly aggravated. “I haven't even started it, and I don't intend to either.”

“Not even if it's an order?”

Ro crossed her arms and fell silent.

“Come on, Ro! You have to talk about it some time!”

“Who's to say I didn't?”

The counselor's eyebrow quirked. “With who?”

“Someone who won't tell you a thing. Beverly already told me a report is not mandatory. If I felt like speaking to you about this, I would have already. Now if you'll excuse me-”

“Ro, I can sense you're uncomfortable, and I'm sorry about that – really I am!” Deanna started. “But I can also sense something big happened that you're not telling anyone! You won't even tell us how long the Ferengi had you! We just want to know because we want to help you.”

“Really? Because it seems more like you're all nosy and can't mind your own business.”

“That's not-”

 _“Ensign Ro, please report to the Bridge,”_ the companel rang out.

“Acknowledged.” Ensign Ro glared and left without another word to Deanna.

The counselor watched her stalk away with a twisted, sick feeling. Ro had put a wall up even stronger than Will's, and it was beginning to eat at her.

“Great! Now another person who won't speak to me, but clearly needs my help!” she shook her head and walked in the direction of Ten Forward.

The doors to the lounge slid open to reveal a quiet hum of voices and small groups of people talking and playing amongst themselves. Guinan waved over to Deanna and turned back to tend drinks. Moving through the room, Deanna spotted a quiet table near the wide observation window and sat down, sighing deeply in an effort to de-stress.

“Seems like you've got quite a lot on your mind,” Guinan said, sliding into the seat opposite the counselor with two drinks in hand.

“I do, and I'm not sure if there's anything I can do besides – I don't know – waiting?” she conceded.

“Well what seems to be the problem?” the El-Aurian asked as she slid Deanna one of the blue-colored drinks.  
  
“There's something different about Will – like he's closed off. And Ensign Ro? Ha! I can't get her to say anything about the Krivla incident.”

“Ro hasn't spoken to Picard either. I talked to him last week and he told me he'd given up on trying to get the woman to talk. So you're not alone.”

“I bet she wouldn't even speak to _you_ at this point.”

Guinan quietly sipped at her drink and it occurred to Deanna that she'd already lost that bet. “Guinan...”

“No. You know that even though I listen, I don't go around telling people's business. Besides - Ro is my friend.”

“And I'm not?!” Troi fussed.

“You are, but I'm still not telling you.” She took another sip of the drink.

“Okay...Be vague. Just confirm my suspicion on whether or not something... _big_ happened on that ship!”

“Besides Ro being captured and held hostage?”

“Yes!” Deanna cried before immediately regretting it. The other patrons in Ten Forward looked at her with puzzled expressions before turning back to their conversations.

“Yes,” she tried again, this time quietly. “Is there something else?”

Guinan sighed then nodded. “There is, and that's all I'll say. I've gotta go! The bar's getting crowded.”

The half-Betazoid woman sighed, this time with a small semblance of relief before turning to her untouched drink. 

“I'll get to the bottom of this whether Ro likes it or not!”

As for Will? 

Deanna grimaced and downed the drink in two gulps.

That would just have to wait.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, constructive criticism, feedback, and suggestions are wanted, loved, needed, adored, so don't hold back ~~unless you're about to curse me out~~! Until the next chapter!
> 
> 9/16/18 Update - This fan fic has been discontinued. The plotting did not go how I would have preferred and I am not sure how to pick up where I left off. My apologies to anyone who liked this fan fic!


End file.
